The Indian batters, especially Shreyas Iyer, will be under scrutiny as the side gear up for back-to-back T20I matches against the West Indies in the USA on Saturday, August 6. The Men in Blue are currently leading the five-match series 2-1 and would be looking to wrap up the series with wins in front of the USA's massive Indian crowd.
Iyer's position will be under speculation given the current form of Deepak Hooda, who has used his opportunities very well. The star is more than capable to oust Iyer as the selectors begin their lookout for India's squad for the T20 World Cup.
With KL Rahul and Virat Kohli set to return for the Asia Cup, time is certainly running out for the 27-year-old Mumbaikar, who has scores of 0, 10 (11 balls) and 24 (27 balls) in the three games of the ongoing series so far. While the short ball is his main problem, watching Iyer's indecisiveness is something that does not affect him in the 50-over format.
Dravid has tested Iyer in nine T20I games in the last two and half months, but there has not been a single fifty-plus score even when he got a chance to come out within the first 10 overs. If Iyer gets a chance in the last two games, he has no option but to put his best foot forward as the Asia Cup team, in all probability, will also be the likely team for the T20 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma is likely to be available
While Suryakumar Yadav's awe-inspiring shots were much relished, he is expected to have skipper Rohit Sharma back at the top of the order. In the third game in Basseterre, Rohit was forced to retire hurt with a back spasm when he was batting on 11, which was more precautionary with a three-day gap in between games. The Indian captain would like to continue his recent good form in the two remaining games.
And Rishabh Pant has looked good in all his short stints at the crease and will not have a big one in front of a packed audience at Central Broward Park Stadium.
Playing Avesh a compulsion in wake of Harshal's injury
Avesh Khan has been taken to cleaners in the last two games but the Dravid-Rohit pair has no other option but to continue with the profligate MP speedster as Harshal Patel hasn't fully recovered from his rib-cage injury. Avesh throughout his career has been a bit one-dimensional with either bowling too short or too full giving batters ample time to work on the pace or play the full-blooded drive.
It will be interesting to see if Kuldeep Yadav gets a game in the series and India plays an extra spinner in case Harshal doesn't get fit in time.
Teams
India
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Parel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneswar Kumar, Harshal Patel
West Indies
Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Rovman Powell, Shamarh Brooks, Dominic Drakes, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon Thomas, Hayden Walsh.
